U.S. patent application number 12/830767 was filed with the patent office on 2012-01-12 for method and system for enabling on-line travel reservations via connection to customer relationship management system, office software address book, or other electronic sources of contact information.
Invention is credited to Keith Andrew Corell.
Application Number | 20120010909 12/830767 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45439221 |
Filed Date | 2012-01-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120010909 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Corell; Keith Andrew |
January 12, 2012 |
Method and system for enabling on-line travel reservations via
connection to customer relationship management system, office
software address book, or other electronic sources of contact
information
Abstract
A method and system of allowing a user to make travel
reservations online via an interface between a customer
relationship management (CRM) or like accessible software program
intended to facilitate storage and retrieval of addresses and
related information for persons, business, & other entities,
such as email and other common office software address books and
contact lists, where the method captures potential destination
information from the CRM or other address/contact list software and
presents the user with reservation options. Said options can be
presented either via internet or other data transmittal method
within the CRM or other software tool, or may be accomplished by
sending departure, destination, and other information to a third
system for display and reservation booking, either with or without
sign-on to such a system. Once reservations are complete, travel
data (including, but not limited to, date, time, air carrier, and
traveler details) is then returned to the CRM or other software
tool for tracking, travel reminders, or travel reporting
purposes.
Inventors: |
Corell; Keith Andrew; (The
Woodlands, TX) |
Family ID: |
45439221 |
Appl. No.: |
12/830767 |
Filed: |
July 6, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/00 20130101;
G06Q 10/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/5 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 10/00 20060101
G06Q010/00 |
Claims
1. A method of allowing the user of customer relationship
management (CRM) or other software typically used for tracking
contacts and address information for persons, businesses, or other
entities to initiate online booking of travel reservations, which
typically includes air or rail transportation, hotel
accommodations, car rental or acquiring a car for hire, and/or
restaurant availability and reservations, where the online booking
tool is reached via a link within the CRM or other previously
described software.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the link is displayed as either a
text string or a pictorial icon that would indicate its intended
use for reaching the travel booking tool, and which contains an
embedded URL or other electronic linking method.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the link accesses an online
booking tool run from a server internal to the user's company,
externally via the CRM or other software if a hosted application,
externally via a third party travel agency's online booking tool,
or via other methods common to the industry.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein access to the online booking tool
may occur within the CRM or other aforementioned software programs
as an application contained within said software, or may be
accomplished via opening another application or internet browser to
access the online booking tool outside of the original software
application.
5. The method in claim 1 wherein the CRM or other aforementioned
software programs has the link accessible for use on the software's
initial or home pages or screens, user-created pages or screens, on
portions of the pages & screens typically referred to as
"sidebars" or "menu bars", and/or as components of the individual
contacts' displayed information, either directly accessible or via
drop-down selection, such that the user may select the link when
the need to access the online tool is determined.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing the link is accomplished
without sending information that identifies the user.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing the link transmits
information used to identify the user of the link, such that the
online booking tool can recognize the user, allow the user to
securely log in or log in automatically in a single-sign-on (SSO)
environment, and then access the user's history, scheduled flights,
preferences, travel profile, and other information commonly
displayed as a user books travel reservations online.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing the link transmits
information related to the user's current address, preferred
address, or home city to the online booking tool, such that the
tool will, automatically or via prompt, pre-populate the needed
departure information in the tool's search feature.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing the link transmits
information related to the customer or other contact's address
information to the online booking tool, such that the tool will,
automatically or via prompt, pre-populate the needed destination
information in the tool's search feature.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein accessing the link initiates a
notation or pop-up window to the user that lists other contacts
located within a given radius of the contact whose destination is
being supplied to the booking tool, and which can then be selected
to be included as data points within any trip subsequently
booked.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein once the travel reservation has
been made via access to the online booking tool, the booking tool
can return information to the original CRM or other aforementioned
software programs, such that this software can then log details of
the travel reservations made for the specific customer or contact
site by the user.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the information transmitted from
the booking tool to the CRM or other aforementioned software
programs includes, but is not limited to, flight dates and carrier,
details on hotel accommodations, car arrangements, and other travel
booking-related information.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein this information is viewable in
the CRM or other aforementioned software programs by the user,
user's management, or other designated parties, as either displayed
information convenient to the contact's record, or via reporting
from a database which extracts such information from the CRM or
other aforementioned software programs.
14. The method in claim 11 wherein this information is be used to
initiate travel reminders sourced directly from the CRM or other
aforementioned software programs.
15. The method in claim 11 wherein the trip information is compared
to other trips booked within the trip's timeframe such that the CRM
or other aforementioned software programs can notify the user when
trips conflict in terms of dates, times, and/or originating &
departing airport locations.
16. The method in claim 11 wherein the trip destination information
is compared to other stored contacts' addresses such that the CRM
or other aforementioned software programs can suggest other
contacts that could be visited during the booked trip's duration,
or if the booked trip's flight times or dates are modified.
17. The method in claim 11 wherein the trip information is provided
to one or more applicable trip approvers within the CRM or other
aforementioned software programs, who can then approve, reject, or
request more information about the trip.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention generally relates to software applications
used to track customer or other contact information and how these
might access online booking tools used to make travel
reservations.
[0003] 2. Background Art
[0004] Currently, if a user of a Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) or similar tool identifies the need to book a reservation, it
is a manual process to switch between software applications to
access an online booking tool. The tool, typically a web-based
application serviced by a travel agency and displaying content
pulled from a global distribution system (GDS), allows the user to
input destination data and needed dates, and then select flights
from a selection returned by a search of the available GDS
inventory.
[0005] The user can then make notes of the trips selected or
manually enter this information into the CRM, if that application
allows such notes. Some online booking tools allow access to
reservation information via email automatically generated by the
tool and sent to the user, who can then log such trips in their
personal calendar software, such as in Microsoft Office, Lotus
Notes, and Open Office.
[0006] To report scheduled trips, as a pending travel report to a
company's management for example, the user's organization must
typically defer to reporting generated by the agency that fulfills
the ticket reservations, either direct from the agency or via
self-serve reporting via the agency's online reporting portal.
These reports sometimes lack real-time visibility to all scheduled
trips, and force intervening steps and use of several software
applications or systems to create the final report.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] An object of this invention is to allow the users of a CRM
or other contract or address tracking software to quickly and
efficiently make travel reservations to the location displayed in
said software for the contact being viewed, by an automatic link to
an online booking tool. Accessing the link would allow transmission
to the booking tool of destination data, such as the contact's
city, state, and country, and can be linked to tables within the
CRM tool that contain reference information, such as closest
airports to the contact, the organization's preferred hotel
providers, and the like.
[0008] Another object of this invention is to allow a similar user
to more generally access an online booking tool directly from all
sections of the CRM or aforementioned software programs, without
necessarily selecting a specific contact's location, as a
convenience to the user.
[0009] A further object of this invention is to transmit certain
information to the booking tool to identify the user to the tool,
which then allows a quick sign-in process, a well as the user's
previously stored preferences (typically kept in a traveler
profile) to be used in the booking of the reservation. The linkage
can include secure information to allow a single-sign-on (SSO)
enabled system to log in the user to the tool automatically, or may
prompt the user to enter a password before proceeding.
[0010] Yet another object of this invention is to allow the return
of data from the booking tool to the original CRM or aforementioned
software programs. This data would include confirmed travel date(s)
and flight number(s), carrier, hotel accommodations, car
reservations, and other pertinent trip-related information. This
information can then be displayed as reminders to the user when
utilizing the software programs, both on the home screens, and in
direct relation to the specific contact. The invention would
programmatically suggest other contacts the user could visit based
on those contacts' addresses in relation to the destination(s)
booked. The information would also then be available to the user's
management (if part of a larger organization, such as a business,
government agency, or non-profit organization) via direct display
in the software's reporting dashboards, status screens, or other
common methods of reviewing user behavior, or via reporting as
supported in the program's addressable databases.
[0011] These and other objectives are achieved via a method and
system for enabling a CRM or other aforementioned software programs
to link and transmit data bi-directionally to an online travel
booking tool. The method comprises the steps adding a link to the
booking tool within the CRM or other aforementioned software
programs, designating what information will be transmitted (if any)
when the link is used, determining how the tool will be accessed,
and then accepting returned data once the reservation is
complete.
[0012] In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the
invention, an icon hyperlinked to a URL is placed in a prominent
but unobtrusive place in the user interface where the
aforementioned software's user reviews a contact's information.
This link would be placed as a small icon in the one corner of the
contact information screen, and would include a description for its
use when the user highlights it with a mouse.
[0013] In the preferred embodiment, when the link is clicked, the
software opens a second window that displays the user's designated
online booking tool. In an SSO environment, the user's secure
credentials would be included in the link's initial communication
with the booking tool, allowing the initial sign-in screen to be
bypassed. In a non-SSO environment, the user would sign in with
user name and password. Once securely accessing the tool, the
user's departure information would be entered automatically via
information transmitted by the link, if not already included by
addressing the user's travel profile. The destination would also be
populated, based on the contact's information sourced from the CRM
or aforementioned software programs. The user would then enter
dates and other criteria, search for fares, and complete the
reservation as is the norm for users of these online tools.
[0014] The preferred embodiment of the invention would then see the
confirmed flight and other travel information conveyed back to the
CRM or aforementioned software program for capture in the
software's database. Subsequent reviews of the contact's
information would display a changed icon that represents a pending
trip until the date & time of the trip had passed. Clicking
this link displays a summary of the trip, rather than take the user
directly to the booking tool, though a second link included in this
screen allows the user to access the booking tool to make changes
to the reservations if needed. The trip information is also
displayed to the user's manager as a trip notice, and can then be
included in an organization's travel report when such is run. All
trips booked are tracked within the CRM or aforementioned software
for the user's review, to prevent overlapping trips from occurring,
and to display reports on other contacts that may be visited based
on trip destination(s) and dates of travel.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, an icon
hyperlinked to a URL is placed in a prominent but unobtrusive place
in the user interface where the aforementioned software's user
reviews a contact's information. Such interfaces are typically
represented graphically as note or Rolodex cards on the user's
computer screen, and contain the contact's name, title, email and
physical addresses, phone numbers, and the like. In CRM systems,
the contact information can also include a history of call dates,
in-person visits, and products and services previously purchased.
This invention's link--for the purpose of this description the
"Book Travel" link, but similarly brief, descriptive text can be
used to accompany the graphical icon--would be placed as a small
icon in the one corner of the card representation, and would
include a description for its use when the user highlights it with
a mouse.
[0016] A similar Book Travel link would also be prominently
displayed in the aforementioned software's main web pages or
primary interface screens. Clicking this link would initiate access
to an intermediate screen or interface, where the user would be
able to select a contact to be visited from a list of contacts.
Once the contact is selected, the process would proceed to the
booking stage as described below. Once the Book Travel link is
clicked from the selected contact's page or screen, the preferred
embodiment have would proceed to open the online travel booking
site, either as a second, separate screen or by moving the web
interface to the screen directly. The user would be able to select
via which of these options the travel screen is displayed. If in a
single sign-on (SSO) network environment, the users security
credentials entered upon initial access to the network would
suffice to log the user into the online travel booking tool. In a
non-SSO environment, the user would be prompted to enter user name
and password(s) or other security information to log into the
booking tool.
[0017] At this point, a second screen--commonly referred to as a
"pop-up"--would be displayed in addition to the booking tool
screen, which would display other contacts in the same geographic
area as the initially selected contact. The user would then be able
to select one or more of these additional contacts to be included
in the trip database once the booking is complete as outlined
below.
[0018] In the preferred embodiment, once logged in, the online
booking tool's trip creation screen would be displayed with both
departure and destination locations pre-populated with information
conveyed via the user's preferences and selected contact's address
information, as conveyed from the contact screen in the CRM or
aforementioned software. In the current art, most booking tools
including "home airport" or similar information included in a
stored traveler profile, but the preferred embodiment supplies this
information for occasions when profile information is not
available. This transmitted information could be in the form of the
actual, complete address of the user and contact, or could be
restricted to the Airport City Code, depending on the requirements
specified in the booking tools configuration.
[0019] The user would proceed to choose travel dates, search for
fares, and book the remainder of the trip as outlined by the
dictates of the online booking tool. In the preferred embodiment,
the booking tool would transmit trip-related data back to the CRM
or aforementioned software once the booking was completed. The user
would initiate transmission via a graphical link on a screen in the
booking tool that appears once the trip is finalized. Transmitted
data would include the flights date(s) and time(s), departure and
destination information, carrier, hotel & car rental details,
and other information as needed. Data may also be supplied to the
aforementioned software via email, secure file transmission
protocol (FTP), or other methods in common use.
[0020] Once the trip data is received, the preferred embodiment
would store the data in a database for a variety of uses. When
subsequently viewing a contact's details, the original Book Travel
link would now be displayed as an altered icon--Booked Travel, or
similarly named--to indicate that a trip has already been scheduled
to this contact. Clicking the Booked Travel icon would display
information on the current trip planned to the contact's location,
with another link provided if the user needs to modify the travel
plans, which would take the user to the online booking tool as
outlined above.
[0021] When accessing the aforementioned software generally, the
data would serve to provide the user graphical reminders of all
trips currently planned via a section on the software's primary
display. Following standards of the current art, this would
typically occur via a webpage-type interface, with a section on the
side bar or reach via drop-down menu titled "Planned Trips" or
similar phrasing. The Planned Trips section would display the
contact name and trip date, with hyperlinks links embedded in each
line to allow the user to click through to view the full details.
As a subsection, the data would also be matched to all contacts'
address information to display other contacts with whom the user
could schedule appointments either during the scheduled duration of
the trip, or via modification to the existing itinerary's date
and/or time of departure. Those knowledgeable in the art will
appreciate the potential for cost savings created by the user's
ability to make more appointments or visits to the user's contacts
on the same trip, without incurring additional airfare.
[0022] The preferred embodiment would also use the trip database to
provide reports to the user's manager for viewing the user's
scheduled trips. Where desired, the trips can also be reviewed as
requests, to be approved or rejected by the manager within the CRM
system (most booking tools on the market have some provision for
online and/or email based travel approvals). The manager would also
have available travel reports for all of the manager's employees,
and subsequent layers of management would see similar reports for
their organizations, up to and including the organization's overall
leader. Reports would include various views of the data, such as by
date, destination, contact visited, and other views standard in the
art of travel and CRM reporting.
[0023] FIG. 1 shows the process for the preferred embodiment
described herein, using a CRM application (A) as the source for
customer data (C). The CRM user (B) access the CRM system, reviews
stored customer data, and chooses to book travel to a customer.
This results in the customer's and user's locations being
transmitted as a booking request (D), to the chosen Booking Tool
(E). With a full integration to the CRM (F), this does not require
a second sign-on to the Booking Tool search fares, but instead is
performed inside a screen within the CRM itself. Without a full
integration, the user complete the fare search and completes the
booking within the external Booking Tool (G).
[0024] FIG. 2 provides more detail in the steps taken for a user to
complete a booking in the preferred embodiment. User reviews
customer data and clicks the Book Travel link (A), uses the Booking
Tool interface to make travel selections (B), with the completed
information sent to the CRM for storage (C). User can review the
trip details for all pending trips (D) and request a trip change
(E) if needed. Up-to-date trip information is provided via reports
at the user, manager, customer, or other aggregation methods
(F).
[0025] FIG. 3 displays as sample electronic address card in a
format analogous to a physical Rolodex card. Other formats for
capturing and displaying contact information exist in various
forms, varying from software application to application, and this
should not be taken as the sole format for which the preferred
embodiment can be utilized. In this sample, the Book Travel icon is
displayed next to the Customer Name, and is represented by a
suitcase with an arrow, though other graphical representations
could exist to indicate the link is for travel such as globes,
maps, aircraft, and the like.
[0026] The present invention can be embodied in either software run
on multiple individual computer systems, such as desktops, laptops,
and servers, or could be configured to run of software localized to
a specific machine or machines designed for the sole purpose
hosting the application described herein. Software, programs, and
applications are herein intended to describe a method by which a
set of instructions are created, stored, and then applied via use
of a computer's operating system, the instructions of which are
written in a variety of development languages or codes and then
compiled to be executable by an operating system.
[0027] Though the herein described invention is rigorous in its
methods for fulfilling the objectives communicated above,
modifications and embodiments may be made by those skilled in the
art which should be considered to fall within the purview and scope
of the present invention as outlined in the appended claims
herein.
[0028] While it is apparent that the invention herein disclosed is
well calculated to fulfill the objects stated above, it will be
appreciated that numerous modifications and embodiments may be
devised by those skilled in the art, and it is intended that the
appended claims cover all such modifications and embodiments as
fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.
* * * * *